While the planned closing of General Motors Corp.'s stamping plant in Wyoming represents a tough loss for the local economy, there is plenty of precedent to show that the facility has a future.

Not too far from the GM plant, in fact, the sprawling former Steelcase Inc. campus has new life as the Grand Rapids Commerce Center, which is now home to an assortment of companies that have bought or leased industrial space.

The kind of effort that went into repositioning the 206-acre former Steelcase site in southwestern Grand Rapids -- now owned by New York City-based Ashley Capital -- is required for the GM stamping plant, said Birgit Klohs, president of Right Place Inc.

"We have, for better or worse, expertise that we're going to have to put to work again," Klohs said.

GM plans to close the 72-year-old Wyoming stamping plant by December 2009, a move that will affect 1,500 jobs.

Planning for the reuse of the 92-acre site, located along 36th Street, just east of U.S. Route 131, is an issue that's "front and center for us," Klohs said.

Weighing in favor of the site's redevelopment is its proximity to the highway, access to rail and surrounding open acreage, she said.

"We're going to spend a lot of energy figuring out what to do with this asset -- and it is an incredible asset," Klohs said.

Duke Suwyn, industrial real estate adviser and president and CEO of Grubb & Ellis|Paramount Commerce in Grand Rapids, believes repositioning the GM plant is certainly doable, given past successes with large industrial complexes in West Michigan.

That includes the former Steelcase site, the sale of which Grubb & Ellis|Paramount Commerce brokered, and the former Lear Corp. plant in Walker, which has become the 45-acre Avastar Park that owners Jack Buchanan Sr. and his son, Jack Buchanan Jr., broke into individual parcels, a number of which have been sold. That deal was brokered by Wisinski Group.

Suwyn also points to the former Life Savers plant in Holland and the one-time Bosch plant in Kentwood, which were both divided up after closing earlier this decade, plus the successful transformation of a former GM plant in Kalamazoo into Midlink Business Park, with leasing now managed by Signature Associates.

Though there's no demand for the resale of large industrial spaces for a single user, there remains plenty of potential for complexes that are broken into smaller parcels for small, specialized manufacturers, Suwyn said.

The Wyoming stamping plant, he said, is no different from any of those projects. Also aiding any potential redevelopment of the site is its linear shape, which makes it easier to divide and from which to create smaller parcels.

"I think it's better positioned than some of the other parcels that have come on the market over the years," Suwyn said. "I'm excited to see what it's going to look like in five years."